Politics. You demand cheaper alternatives and the oil companies don't get the same amount of money, congress gets smaller bribes from said oil companies, and they go poor. If you said we will buy less oil from OPEC then you would run into a big problem. A) China would take up any surplus oil created by the reduced buying, which would mean OPEC has no motivation to lower prices or change business practises. B) Your emergency oil reserves would be eaten up in less than a week, leaving an economy that is oil-dependant on its knees. C) You would create instability in the market, driving prices higher, so when you decide to buy the oil again it costs that much more.

I only got 56% in economics but from what I was awake for, this is my analysis.

I don't believe the people of the US actually have that power. As long as the driving forces who actually run this country are making money in such huge bundles, they will continue to allow the OPEC to keep prices high.

Here in California, the oil companies have actually closed some of the older oil fields to keep the prices artificially high. They use the excuse that it would cost too much to upgrade the equipment. To me that is fake, since they could just as easily scrap the old and rebuild with the new, just like they do with buildings.
To me the belief that the citizens of the US have any actual power to make extreme changes is an illusion.

The failure of the so-called war on drugs is directly connected to this illusion. As long as the majority of drug crimes and drug user problems are keeping us distracted from the real situation, oil company owners are happy